10 PLACES TO BE VISITED IN MACEDONIA

1. St. Mother of God Perivleptos –Ohrid

The existing church of St. Clement, built in 1295 and named St. Bogorodica Perivleptos (Mother of God the Most Glorious), is a completely preserved medieval monument located in Ohrid, famous for its extraordinary architecture and Renaissance fresco paintings. This church became the cathedral church of the Archbishopric of Ohrid. The paintings in the church mark a new chapter in mediaeval paintings. They ushered in a new trend in Byzantine art which came to be known as the Palaeologus Renaissance.

2. The Ohrid Icon Galery

The Collection comprises numerous icons. About 30 of them have been estimated as masterworks created in a longer period that lasted from 11th to 19th century. The collection is among the first four icon collection in the world of its importance and vallue. Most icons in this collection were created by the Ohrid medieval zographs (icon-painters) while some of them were sent in from the workshops of Constantinople (Istanbul) and Salonika (Thessalonica). The unknown painters have achieved a real perfection in the painting of the icons characterized with refine drawing, soft modelling and harmonious colouring.

3. Museum on Water Ohrid – (Bay of Bones museum - Ohrid)

Ohrid was enriched with another cultural and historical landmark as well as with a tourist attraction - Museum on Water - an exceptional archaeological complex, which is one of a kind in the region. On the southern coast of Gradiste Peninsula in the Bay of Bones, a pile-dwelling settlement has been erected, which in the past was spreading at a total surface of 8.500 m2. It is an authentic reconstruction of a part of the pile-dwelling settlement, dating back between 1200 and 700 BC.

4. Museum of Mother Theresa and Central Square of Skopje and born house of Mother Theresa

The Mother Teresa Memorial House is dedicated to the humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mother Teresa and is located in her hometown Skopje, in the Republic of Macedonia. The memorial house was built on the popular Macedonia street in the Centar municipality, on the very location of the once Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, where Mother Teresa was baptized.

5. Church “St. Jovan Bigorski”

with the most beautiful iconostasis in Europe. The monastery church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. According to the monastery's 1833 chronicle, it was built in 1020 by Ivan I Debranin. The Ottomans destroyed the monastery in the 16th century. The monastery was restored in 1743 by the monk Ilarion, who also built several monk cells. Later, in the period from 1812 to 1825 the monastery was expanded by archimandrite Arsenius. . One of the most valuable treasures of the monastery is the iconostasis created by Petre Filipovski Garkata from the nearby village of Gari. This iconostasis is considered one of the most beautiful and most valuable wood-carved iconostasis in the Orthodox religion. Another valuable monastery treasure is an icon dating from 1020 with supposedly miraculous healing power.

The two main varieties grown in Macedonia are Vranec (red) and Smederevka (white). Beside those two the most popular varieties include international ones like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir from the red and Chardonnay, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc from the white varieties. In addition there are number of other different varieties as Muscat Ottonel, Semillon, Rkaciteli, Grenache Blanc, and Kadarka, that are grown in Macedonia. And than, there is a group of exotic local and regional varieties like Zilavka, Prokupec and Stanushina.

7. The highest waterfall in Macedonia – Smolare

Smolare Waterfall is the tallest waterfall in the Republic of Macedonia, falling from a height of 39.5 metres (129.5 feet). It is located above the village of Smolare in the Municipality of Novo Selo in the southeastern region of the country. The waterfall is part of the Lomnica River and is located deep in the Belasica Mountain at an elevation of 630 metres. Crashing down the smooth, black rock face, and surrounded by 100-year-old beech trees. To reach the majestic beauty of the Smolare Waterfall, visitors must wind their way up a nature path which includes 300 stone steps made from natural materials. Once at the site, deep within the forest, tourists can gaze at the waterfall from a wooden bridge constructed in front of the crashing water.

8. Megalithic Observatory Kokino (Macedonian Stonehenge)

NASA in 2005 officially ranged it fourth place in the world, of its accuracy and importance. The site is more than 3800 years old. Kokino consists of two parts. It includes special stone markers used to track the movement of the Sun and Moon on the eastern horizon. The observatory used the method of stationary observation, marking positions of the Sun at the winter and summer solstice, as well as the equinox.

9. Mustafa Kemal Attaturk Bitola Museum (Macedonia)

The father of modern Turkey, dates from 1978, with the promotion of the first exhibition of photos, documents and facsimiles presenting the life and activities of the great Turkish reformer who finished military school in Bitola. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and founder of the Republic of Turkey, as well as the first Turkish President. Atatürk was a military officer during World War I. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in WWI, he led the Turkish national movement in the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Allies. His military campaigns gained Turkey independence. Atatürk then embarked upon a program of political, economic, and cultural reforms, seeking to transform the former Ottoman Empire into a modern and secular nation-state. The principles of Atatürk's reforms, upon which modern Turkey was established, are referred to as Kemalism.

10. The Valley of Stone Dolls (Kuklica), Kratovo

Kuklica is known by natural phenomena of characteristic erosive landforms called earth pyramids, earth pillars or stone dolls. These landforms are found on the right side of Kriva River valley, at the 415-420 m above sea level, and extend over an area of 0.3 square kilometres. The most famous legend is that of a man who could not decide which of two women he should marry. So, the man planned to marry each woman on the same day at different times. When the first wedding was in progress, the woman to marry the man second went to see who was getting married on the same day as she. When she saw her future husband marrying another woman, she cursed all in attendance at the wedding and turned them into stone.